Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants results from the action of a mechanism that surveys the RNAs in a cell and specifically degrades those it perceives as alien. The alien RNAs can be doublestranded (ds) or single-stranded (ss) molecules that have homology to dsRNA present in the cell. Most plant viruses have RNA genomes that replicate to produce plus and minus sense RNAs, with...

The increasing understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the progression of diseases is opening up opportunities for new therapeutic intervention. DNAzymes, derived by in vitro selection processes, is one such discovery that has potential for selective gene silencing. The first report on DNAzymes came nearly eighteen years ago and since then hundreds of DNA sequences have been isol...

MicroRNAs are non-coding short (~23 nucleotides) RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional regulation through sequence-specific gene silencing. The role of miRNAs in neuronal development, synapse formation and synaptic plasticity has been highlighted. However, the role of neuronal activity on miRNA regulation has been less focused. Neuronal activity-dependent regulation of miRNA may fine-tune gene...

Both the biotic and abiotic stressors restrict yield potential of many crops, including bananas. Bananas belong to genus Musa are world’s most popular widely produced fruit for their nutritional industrial importance. The demand bananas is growing each day worldwide. However, different pest infestations hampering production bananas, making it a matter concern global food security. Several biote...

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces sequence-specific mRNA degradation in most eukaryotic organisms via a conserved pathway known as RNA interference (RNAi). Post-transcriptional gene silencing by RNAi is also connected with transcriptional silencing of cognate sequences. In plants, this transcriptional silencing is associated with sequence-specific DNA methylation. To address whether this mech...

Huntington's disease is a dominant autosomal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of polyglutamines in the huntingtin (Htt) protein, whose cellular function remains controversial. To gain insight into Htt function, we purified epitope-tagged Htt and identified Argonaute as associated proteins. Colocalization studies demonstrated Htt and Ago2 to be present in P bodies, and depletion...

Gene silencing can occur either through repression of transcription, termed transcriptional gene silencing (TGS), or through mRNA degradation, termed post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS). Initially, TGS was associated with the regulation of transposons through DNA methylation in the nucleus, whereas PTGS was shown to regulate virus infection through double-stranded RNA in the cytoplasm. H...